In honor of her birthday the Imperial Household Agency released new photos as well as video of the beautiful crown princess with her family, His Imperial Highness Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan and Her Imperial Highness Princess Aiko of Japan.

The crown princess also released a statement regarding her thoughts about this past year. Here is what she had to say (rough translation):

“In the past year, there were various things both inside and outside of the country. Floods caused by the Kumamoto earthquake in April, the typhoon in the summer, and many other natural disasters that occurred abroad. I express my heartfelt condolences to the people who passed away in unhappiness and their bereaved families. Also, I wish to express my condolences for the hardships of the affected people as well as I pray from the bottom of my heart that I can return to life I can relieve as soon as possible. The occurrence of an earthquake of seismic intensity 7 in Kumamoto Prefecture was an unexpected thing, my heart ached from the magnitude of the damage. Also, since the big aftershocks lasted for a long period of time, I think that many people had a hard time thinking.

East Japan great earthquake disaster is also always getting hung up on my mind. In June, I visited Iwate Prefecture with Prince Crown Prince for visit to the reconstruction situation, I realized that the reconstruction is progressing steadily, such as the development of disaster public housing and housing estates progressed . On the other hand, my heart felt painfully as I heard stories about the difficulties continuing from people living in temporary housing now. Furthermore, in such a situation, I knew that Typhoon No. 10 brought about major damage to Iwaizumi Iwaizumi Town and Hokkaido, I thought about the magnitude of the impact the people suffered. Also, in recent years, it seems that there are a lot of large-scale disasters, I feel once again the importance of preparation for daily disasters. I hope that those affected will be able to live peacefully as soon as possible and I would like to keep in mind the restoration of the afflicted areas for a long time with the Crown Prince.

The bright topic of the year was that the Japanese team won great performances at the Rio Olympics and the Paralympics during the summer and that Dr. Yoshinori Osumi was awarded the Nobel Prize for physiology and medicine in autophagy research I will. And the selection of the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, which was established in 1965 as a Nobel Prize in Asia, was chosen as a proof that international contributions by Japanese young people are highly valued from the world, I am very pleased about these things.

However, in Japan, it is becoming apparent that people with disabilities, people who are socially vulnerable, such as children and the elderly, will be sacrificed, which is of concern. Even with looking to the world, issues such as poverty, the increase of refugees, the occurrence of many victims by terrorism, and so on are piled up. I feel that it is important for people to overcome each other’s differences with a broad mind, to gather wisdom together with hands and work together to solve various problems in the current world .

To the Emperor and Empress, I began visiting the Philippine country in January, I also saw how I was fulfilling my duties while carefully working each and every single year, deep emotion We are renewing our philosophy. And, the words of the Emperor in August this year, I have grasped the television broadcast with a solemn thinking, and I take it heavily for your Majesty’s feelings. I am praying to the Emperor from the bottom of my heart that every day I am very busy with my duties and I am treating my physical condition and treating my health forever.

In October, His Highness Prince Makasa Mikasa had passed away. To Mikasa Miya, I am feeling lonely, since I received my highness, Prince Crown Prince, me and Aiko as well as having taken care of me. I am rewarding this opportunity to express my appreciation of gratitude and my respect for my longevity and pray for the souls. Also, overseas, His Majesty the King of Bhumibol of Thailand had passed. I was deeply sorry for the citizens of Thailand because I was devoted to the Thai country for many years and I was deeply appreciated by the people, so it was a shame. About twenty years ago, I invited you to Bokkok, Bangkok which I visited on the way to the Middle Eastern countries that became my first foreign visit after marriage, for me, to host a deep and memorable heart-warming dinner party I remember old times. I sincerely pray for the souls.

Regarding myself, while paying attention to the physical condition this year, starting the ceremony of the Emperor Jinmu 2,600 years in April and striving to fulfill as much duty as possible for the public service inside and outside the East Palace I give up. Among them, I visited Chiba and Iwate Prefecture in June, Nara Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture in July, Nagano Prefecture in August and Gifu Prefecture in November, welcoming a lot of people with a smile with a warm smile What I received was great encouragement for me. From now on, I would like to continue my efforts to recover while receiving assistance from everyone.

Princess Aiko is surrounded by many friends and lives a fulfilling middle school life, and this year, along with the Crown Prince and I, including the ceremonial ceremonial commemorative ceremony of Jimmu Emperor Yamanashi and “mountain days”, various events and places I also got more to go out. Through such things, I feel that I am learning the awareness and role as an imperial family. I entered autumn, I lost my physical condition, I worry very much to everyone. Indeed, I feel that my physical condition has recovered fairly now, I am working on study while sending important days of my remaining junior high school life carefully. I hope to continue growing more and more while accumulating various experiences from now on. I sincerely thank each of my majesties for rewarding this opportunity to watch over me and Aiko while having a warmest heartfelt than usual. We would like to express our gratitude to the warm feelings offered by the people as well.

We believe that the affected areas including the Tohoku area and Kumamoto are also experiencing severe winter cold. I sincerely hope that those affected by the disaster will be able to spend a calm and daily life with warm support from many people.”

On Thursday, December 8, 2016, Their Majesties King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands attended the 2016 Erasmusprijs held at the Koninklijk Paleis in Amsterdam. The Erasmusprijs, worth €150,000, is awarded annually to a person or institution that has made an exceptional contribution to the humanities or the arts.

This year the Stichting Praemium Erasmianum awarded the prize to British writer, Dame Antonia Susan Byatt, her inspiring contribution to ‘life writing’, a literary genre that encompasses historical novels, biographies and autobiographies. The jury describes A.S. Byatt as a born storyteller with a keen eye for relations in public and private life.

Byatt has written dozens of (historical) novels, biographies, short stories and critical essays. In a wide-ranging body of work she unites great erudition with an unbridled pleasure in writing and imaginative power. Her work crosses boundaries in style and content. It covers a range of genres, literary forms and subjects. She immerses the reader in the history of European thinking, taking the big questions about science, history and identity as her starting point.

Among her recurring themes are the influence of art on life, magic and realism, and the conflict between ambition and family. Her body of work brings together not only artists and academics, but also fairy tales and myths. Many of her novels, including The Biographer’s Tale and Possession, explore the act of writing a biography or conducting research. In the process, she has reshaped the genre of life writing in her own way. Among her best-known books are Possession, short story collections such as Sugar and other Stories and the novel The Children’s Book.

On Wednesday, December 7, 2016, Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan attended the Women on the Front Lines conference in Amman, Jordan.

According to a press release during today’s conference Her Majesty attended the panel discussion, Asking the Hard Questions, which focused on:

“…women’s influential role in the media, and addressed the challenges they face while conducting interviews, especially when tackling a tough line of questioning with male interviewees.

Participants in the conference included a number of prominent women from the fields of politics, media, and economics. Other prominent speakers included the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag, Egyptian International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr, CNN presenter Becky Anderson, President of the Jordanian Business and Professional Women Association Senator Haifa Najjar, and Iranian-American astronaut Anousheh Ansari.

Women on The Front Lines is an annual conference organized by the May Chidiac Foundation bringing together some of the world’s most influential women, who have inspired leadership, change, and sustainability in their fields.

The Foundation, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to training, research and education on media, democracy, and social welfare, was established in 2009 by Lebanese broadcast journalist Dr. May Chidiac, who survived an assassination attempt in Lebanon in 2005.

The foundation also runs an affiliated non-profit media institute that aims to foster the values of freedom of expression, human rights and democracy in media production industries by providing young professionals with state-of-the-art technical facilities and training programs.”

]]>https://royalcorrespondent.com/2016/12/07/video-her-majesty-queen-rania-of-jordan-attends-the-women-on-the-front-lines-conference/feed/0akg1jordan4jordan-09-20-18(VIDEO) His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales Visits the Bank of England.https://royalcorrespondent.com/2016/12/07/video-his-royal-highness-the-prince-of-wales-visits-the-bank-of-england/
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On Wednesday, December 7, 2016, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visited the Bank of England in London.

According to a Bank of England press release during today’s visit the prince was given a:

“…tour [that] covered the different aspects of the Bank’s work to maintain monetary and financial stability.

The tour began with a private meeting with the Governors to cover recent market and policy developments. His Royal Highness then visited our Museum to learn about our public outreach and meet school children from Virginia Primary School in Tower Hamlets.

The tour continued with a visit to Taylor’s Treasury, the newly refurbished area of the Bank uncovered after almost 45 years hidden and recently awarded a City of London Heritage Trust Award. Here His Royal Highness met scholarship students and representatives from the Bank’s employee-led networks. A private briefing from Bank staff on the various policy committees and matters such as house price inflation, cyber security and the Real Time Gross Settlement System followed this. The tour concluded with a visit to the gold vaults where around 400,000 bars of gold, worth over £100 billion, are held.

Commenting on the visit, Governor Mark Carney said: ‘Today has been a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate the breadth of the Bank’s work and how our remit has evolved since His Royal Highness last visited. I am pleased His Royal Highness had the chance to meet with a range of colleagues from across the Bank to experience the ways in which we work to promote the good of the people of the United Kingdom.'”

]]>https://royalcorrespondent.com/2016/12/07/video-his-royal-highness-the-prince-of-wales-visits-the-bank-of-england/feed/0akg1(VIDEOS) Her Majesty Queen Maxima of the Netherlands Meets with Students at the Thomas More Hogeschool.https://royalcorrespondent.com/2016/12/07/videos-her-majesty-queen-maxima-of-the-netherlands-meets-with-students-at-the-thomas-more-hogeschool/
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On Wednesday, December 7, 2016, Her Majesty Queen Maxima of the Netherlands accompanied by the Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Science, Ms. Jet Bussemaker, visited the teacher training college at the Thomas More Hogeschool in Rotterdam.

According to RVD, during today’s visit Her Majesty and Ms. Bussemaker discussed:

“…music developments in the teacher training courses. Queen Maxima is Honorary President of the Platform Ambassadors ‘More Music in the Classroom’.

‘More Music in the Classroom’ contributes to the realization of structural music education in primary schools. Queen Maxima, Ms. Bussemaker and music ambassadors met with the directors of 25 teacher training courses and music teachers to talk about different views on the design and implementation of music education.”

Please click here and hereto view photos as well as to watch another video.

On the morning of Wednesday, December 7, 2016, Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary of Denmark visited Kræftværket (CancerWork) at the Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen.

According to the Danish royal court, Kræftværket is a:

“… meeting place for young individuals, between the ages of 15-29 years old, who are being treated for Cancer at Rigshospitalet. In addition, CancerWork’s young ambassadors and volunteers give support to young Cancer patients and organizes events and excursions.

Cancer Work and youth friendly wards is in collaboration between the Finsen Centre, Juliane Marie Centre and Youth Medicine Knowledge. CancerWork and young wards are also a part of the project ‘Ungdomsliv og Kræft’ funded by the Børnecancerfonden, Kræftens Bekæmpelse and the Rigshospitalet.”